Vandals Targeted Several Waymo Self-Driving Taxis,

Even When a Passenger Was Inside in a Tense Situation.

In an unusually funny and dystopian image, a front seat passenger is seen clutching a small beige poodle as a group of people corner a stopped Waymo robotaxi on the street and spray paint it with graffiti.

And according to the San Francisco Police Department, it’s one of three occurrences that happened in the city’s Mission District in the early evening hours on September 21.

“[A]n online police report was filed on behalf of an autonomous vehicle operator,”

 “The reportee stated that there were three separate incidents of vandalism on three different autonomous vehicles.”

According to investigators, the suspects used cellphones to record themselves while writing graffiti on the Waymo cars while wearing masks.

The police did not identify which of the events was shown in the widely shared video, but it is evident that tensions between the public and autonomous robotaxis are rising to the point where the vehicles are being intentionally targeted. Furthermore, recording the footage appears to indicate that the vandals want the incidents made public.

Fog City, where Waymo just extended service, has seen a number of alarming incidents involving autonomous vehicles and irate pedestrians, including tires being cut and cars being set on fire.
Waymo was contacted by Futurism for details regarding the videotaped event, but on Wednesday, we didn’t hear back right away.

These incidents and others like it belie the sunny techno-optimism that Waymo and tech evangelists project. Robotaxis are popular among a certain set, if you go by tweets from tech-happy passengers, but they’re a source of controversy among others.
Waymo, owned by Google parent company Alphabet, and other robotaxi businesses are seen by some as potential privacy violations on wheels due to the numerous cameras onboard.

Some have also called for the prohibition of robotaxis in San Francisco because they see them as bad for workers who drive taxis for a living and a road safety hazard.

Indeed, there have been incidents of robotaxis committing alarming street violations like driving against incoming traffic. Federal investigators are looking at more than 20 incidents involving Waymo vehicles as of May this year.
On that subject, Waymo rival Cruise has had a rockier rollout, with its fleet of vehicles getting abruptly pulled from the streets of San Francisco last year. It drove into controversy when a Cruise robotaxi dragged a woman after a car crash.

That traffic victim reached an $8 million settlement with Cruise this year, underlining the dangers that robotaxis may poise to pedestrians.
Perhaps this lawsuit, accidents involving robotaxis, and the drumbeat from CEOs that people’s jobs will be replaced with AI have radicalized some into becoming revenge-seeking luddites.
If that’s the case, expect a more bumpy ride into the future.